Bus driver arrested after fatal M5 crash

A bus driver has been arrested after one man was killed and two people were
critically injured when a lorry crashed into a broken down bus in thick fog
on the M5.

By Claire Duffin

4:49PM GMT 24 Mar 2012

The 49-year-old driver has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

A 35 year-old man, from Birmingham, who was a passenger on the bus was killed in the crash.

The lorry driver and another passenger were also seriously injured in the accident, which happened on the southbound carriageway, between junctions three and four in the West Midlands, just before 6.30am on Saturday.

The bus had been carrying 34 agricultural workers. Twenty seven other men and women on the bus received less serious injuries and were taken to hospital. Ten others who suffered minor injuries were treated at the scene.

A member of the public first called police at 6.12am to report a bus had broken down and was stationary in the inside lane.

There was fog in the area and the crash happened on a section of the motorway where roadworks were said to be under way.

The Highways Agency activated incident warning signs above the road but minutes later police received a second call, reporting that an HGV had collided with the back of the bus.

Seven fire crews with 40 firefighters from West Midlands Fire Service went to the scene, along with police and paramedics and the road was closed both directions.

Three people including, the lorry driver, were trapped and had to be cut free.

The lorry driver, who is from the south west, and a passenger were in a critical condition at the trauma centre at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The lorry, owned by haulage firm Fowler Welch, was carrying chilled foods and was on a return journey to the south west from Manchester and appaered to have hit the white single deck bus from behind.

Police said the bus was carrying 34 men and women who had been picked up from Birmingham earlier that morning.

They said they did not know at this stage where they were heading, but added it was thought they were due to be dropped off at various locations in the local area for work.

The motorway was closed in both directions after the crash.

The northbound carriageway reopened at 9.30am, while the southbound side was expected to remain closed for the rest of the day while investigations continued.

Witnesses said the fog at the time was "like milk".

Chief Inspector Carl Flynn, from West Midlands Police, said: "There was really dense fog, whether that played a part, we do not know yet and must not make assumptions.

"The investigation will look at a range of factors; the weather, the road conditions, the drivers."

The accident occured near to Frankley services between junctions 3 and 4 on the M5

Eye witness Paul Guppy told BBC News there were fog patches on the motorway at the time of the crash. He was driving on the opposite carriageway at about 6.40am - 15 minutes after the emergency services were alertd to the crash by a 999 call.

"There were fog patches, because I was driving through it with my fog lights on. That area is renowned for having fog, there's a lot of low-lying land," he said.

"It was quite horrendous at the time, and then it cleared. Whether the fog was a contributory thing, I don't know."

The coach - believed to have been travelling from Birmingham to Evesham, Worcs, seemed to have been hit from the rear, on its offside, and was leaning, virtually intact, against a crash barrier, he said.

Local hospitals were put on alert to receive the injured from the crash.

A spokesman for Flower Welch said: "Fowler Welch has had a vehicle involved in a major road traffic accident on the M5. At this stage the facts are not fully known. Our thoughts and concerns are with those involved and their families.

"We will be co-operating fully with the police and emergency services to aid them in their investigation."

The accident, the worst in Britain this decade, happened between junctions 24 and 25 of the northbound section of the motorway in Somerset.

Cars and lorries involved in it were caught up first in the collision then a fireball which caused massive destruction.

The interim findings of accident investigators earlier this month found that it was most likely to have been caused by thick fog and ruled out the possibility that smoke from a nearby fireworks display had obscured drivers' vision.